Sinn Féin and the new DUP leader are on course for some tough bargaining, writes Dan Keenan.
WAS THAT a conciliatory Peter Robinson who emerged blinking into the sunshine at the weekend?
Or was it the tough, hardened politician more closely aligned with his caricature?
It was, in truth, hard to tell.
On the one hand, the faithful Paisley deputy who has just ended one of the longest political apprenticeships imaginable offered his opponents in Sinn Féin and the UUP the prospect of progress.
On the other he made it perfectly clear that the Robinson agenda is clearly set beside the growing list of issues which Sinn Féin is keen to see settled.
One year of devolved government with the DUP has witnessed its fair share of problems and disappointments for republicans. There is no Irish language act. The DUP believes that issue to have been knocked on the head, leaving Sinn Féin claiming only that there will be such an act - but without spelling out how or when.
Another republican pet project, the development of a former H-block into a conflict resolution centre alongside a shared sports stadium at the Maze prison site, also appears long-fingered, if not doomed altogether.
Add to that the impasse over Sinn Féin reform of education, in particular the abolition of the 11-plus schools transfer test and the scrapping of "academic selection".
Then there is the hold-up over the transfer of policing and justice powers, keenly sought by Sinn Féin and also by the British and Irish governments.
The DUP has support on this one from the Ulster Unionists, believing as they do that unionists "just aren't ready" to see local ministerial control of the PSNI and the justice system.
But for all these problems, Mr Robinson believes he and Martin McGuinness can find an elusive path towards mutual accommodation.
"There's an awful lot we have to do as an Assembly and Executive," he said in his first public utterance since his elevation to the party leadership, "and indeed I have to say that there are many things that we should be doing that can be win-win."
His form as Finance Minister shows there is some substance to this claim, as the deal he cut with Brian Cowen earlier in the spring over the location of some financial services jobs in Belfast shows.
It was no surprise, therefore, that alone among political leaders either North or South, the Taoiseach praised the new DUP leader as a man of "immense ability" who enjoyed his "full support and co-operation" in bettering the prospects for the island as a whole.
Carefully portraying Mr Robinson positively, Mr Cowen credited him as "a central figure in the recent enormous progress in Northern Ireland".
However, this is the same Peter Robinson who vehemently opposes what he calls the "mandatory coalition" which means he must share power with three other parties. He would much prefer a very much more "normal" arrangement whereby parties enter powersharing structures on a voluntary basis and can be relied upon to work tirelessly towards that end.
Sinn Féin may not be able to do much on the Irish language act or on the development of the Maze given the cost implications in these tight times. But there are already clues that progress can be made - if both the DUP and republicans want it - on the devolution of policing and justice powers.
Whether or not that materialises along the lines of a non-ministerial model as Mr Robinson appeared to hint at the weekend we will have to wait and see.
Just as we will also have to wait to see if Sinn Féin decides to hamper his election as First Minister on Thursday.